BILL NUMBER: AB 387	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   992
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
	CONFERENCE REPORT NO.   1
	PROPOSED IN CONFERENCE   SEPTEMBER 3, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 13, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 8, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 2, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 6, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 15, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wildman

                        FEBRUARY 11, 1999

   An act to amend Sections 17070.50 and 17268 of, and to add
Sections 17072.13, 17213.2, and 17213.3 to, the Education Code,
relating to school facilities.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 387, Wildman.  School facilities:  site contamination.
   Under Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, an eligible
school district may receive funding for new construction of school
facilities.
   This bill would provide that in addition to this funding for new
construction and subject to certain limitations, that funding may be
provided for 50% of the cost of the evaluation of hazardous
materials, as defined, at a site to be acquired by the school
district and for 50% of the response cost of removal of hazardous
waste or solid waste, the removal of hazardous substance, or other
remedial action in connection with hazardous substances at that site
and up to 100% of these costs in the case of financial hardship
assistance, as defined.  This bill would permit a school district
with a site that meets an environmental hardship criteria, as
described, to apply to the State Allocation Board for site
acquisition funding for that site prior to having construction plans
for that site approved by the Division of the State Architect and the
State Department of Education.  The bill would require the State
Allocation Board to develop regulations that allow school districts
with financial hardship site acquisition funding prior to ownership
of the site or evidence that the site is in escrow.
   Existing law prohibits the governing board of a school district
from approving a project involving the acquisition of a schoolsite or
the construction of a school by the school district unless specified
actions are taken with regard to potential contamination of the
site, including a determination by the lead agency, as defined, that
the property purchased or to be built upon is not the site of a
current or former hazardous waste disposal site or solid waste
disposal site, or a hazardous substance release site.
   The bill would require a school district that owns a proposed
schoolsite as a condition of receiving state funds to enter into an
agreement with the Department of Toxic Substances Control to oversee
response action if a preliminary endangerment assessment discloses
the presence of a hazardous material release, or threatened release,
or the presence of naturally occurring hazardous materials, at a
proposed schoolsite at concentrations that could pose a significant
risk to children or adults, and the school district owns the proposed
schoolsite.  The bill would also require the school district to take
response action pursuant to the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous
Substance Account Act as may be required by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
   This bill would make certain prohibitions inapplicable to
schoolsites acquired prior to January 1, 2000.
   The bill would require the State Department of Education to
monitor the performance of the Department of Toxic Substances Control
in meeting timeframes under its provisions and would require a
report of findings to the Department of General Services and the
Department of Finance.  The bill would also require the State
Department of Education to report to the Department of General
Services and the Department of Finance every 6 months for a period of
2 years, the amount of fees or other charges of any state agency
review paid by school districts regarding schoolsites, and any
concerns about those fees or charges.
   This bill would provide that it would not become operative unless
and until SB 162 is chaptered and becomes operative.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 17070.50 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   17070.50.  The board shall not apportion funds to any school
district, unless the applicant school district has certified to the
board that the services of any architect, structural engineer, or
other design professional for any work under the project have been
obtained pursuant to a competitive process that is consistent with
the requirements of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of
Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code and has obtained the
written approval of the State Department of Education that the site
selection, and the building plans and specifications, comply with the
standards adopted by the department pursuant to subdivisions (b) and
(c), respectively, of Section 17251.
  SEC. 2.  Section 17072.13 is added to the Education Code, to read:

   17072.13.  In addition to the amounts provided pursuant to
Sections 17072.10 and 17072.12, the board may provide funding as
follows:
   (a) For 50 percent of the cost of the evaluation of hazardous
materials at a site to be acquired by a school district and for 50
percent of the other response costs of the removal of hazardous waste
or solid waste, the removal of hazardous substances, or other
remedial action in connection with hazardous substances at that site.
  Except as provided in subdivision (b), the funding provided
pursuant to this section may not exceed 50 percent of a number
calculated by subtracting the school district's cost of the site from
what the appraised value of the site would be after the response
action is completed.
   (b) The board may provide funding for up to 100 percent of the
cost of the evaluation of hazardous materials at a site to be
acquired by a school district eligible for financial hardship
assistance pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 17075.10)
and for up to 100 percent of the other response costs for the site.
The funding provided pursuant to this subdivision may not exceed 100
percent of a number calculated by subtracting the school district's
cost of the site from what the appraised value of the site would be
after the response action is completed.
   (c) A school district with a site that meets the environmental
hardship criteria set forth in paragraph (1) may apply to the State
Allocation Board for site acquisition funding for that site prior to
having construction plans for that site approved by the Division of
the State Architect and State Department of Education.
   (1) A project is eligible for environmental hardship site
acquisition funding if both the following apply:
   (A) The remedial action plan for the site approved by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, pursuant to Section 17213, is
estimated by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to take six
months or more to complete.
   (B) The State Department of Education determines that the site is
the best available alternative site.
   (2) The initial site-specific reservation pursuant to this
subdivision shall be for a period of one year.  Extension may be
approved in one-year intervals upon demonstration to the State
Allocation Board of progress toward acquisition.  In the event there
is not demonstrable progress, the State Allocation Board shall have
the option of rescinding the reservation.
   (3) Environmental hardship site acquisition funds approved by the
State Allocation Board can be used only for the site identified in
the remedial action plan approved by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control.
   (4) The date that the State Allocation Board approves the
environmental hardship site acquisition funding will become the State
Allocation Board approval date for the project's construction
funding for that site.
   (5) A school district may apply to the State Allocation Board for
construction funding for the environmental hardship site when the
project has received final Division of the State Architect plan
approval and final State Department of Education site and plan
approval.
   (d) The cost incurred by the school districts when complying with
any requirement identified in this section are allowable costs for
purposes of an applicant under this chapter and may be reimbursed in
accordance with Section 17072.12.
   (e) The State Allocation Board shall develop regulations that
allow school districts with financial hardship site acquisition
funding prior to ownership of the site or evidence that the site is
in escrow.
  SEC. 3.  Section 17213.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   17213.2.  As a condition of receiving state funds pursuant to
Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10), all of the following
apply:
   (a) If a preliminary endangerment assessment prepared pursuant to
Section 17213.1 discloses the presence of a hazardous materials
release, or threatened release, or the presence of naturally
occurring hazardous materials, at a proposed schoolsite at
concentrations that could pose a significant risk to children or
adults, and the school district owns the proposed schoolsite, the
school district shall enter into an agreement with the Department of
Toxic Substances Control to oversee response action at the site and
shall take response action pursuant to the requirements of the state
act as may be required by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district need not
take action in response to a release of hazardous material to
groundwater underlying the schoolsite if the release occurred at a
site other than the schoolsite and if the following conditions apply:

   (1) The school district did not cause or contribute to the release
of a hazardous material to the groundwater.
   (2) Upon the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control
or its authorized representative the school district provides the
Department of Toxic Substances Control or its authorized
representative with access to the schoolsite.
   (3) The school district does not interfere with the response
action activities.
   (c) If at anytime during the response action the school district
determines that there has been a significant increase in the
estimated cost of the response action, the school district shall
notify the State Department of Education.
   (d) A school district that is required by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control to take response action at a proposed schoolsite
is subject to both of the following prohibitions:
   (1) The school district may not begin construction of a school
building until the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines
all of the following:
   (A) That the construction will not interfere with the response
action.
   (B) That site conditions will not pose a significant threat to the
health and safety of workers involved in the construction of the
school building.
   (C) That the nature and extent of any release or threatened
release of hazardous materials or the presence of any naturally
occurring hazardous materials have been fully characterized.
   (2) The school district may not occupy a school building following
construction until it obtains from the Department of Toxic
Substances Control a certification that all response actions, except
for operation and maintenance activities, necessary to ensure that
hazardous materials at the schoolsite no longer pose a significant
risk to children and adults at the schoolsite have been completed and
that the response action standards and objectives established in the
final removal action work plan or remedial action plan have been met
and are being maintained.  After a school building is constructed
and occupied, a school district may continue with ongoing operation
and maintenance activities if the Department of Toxic Substances
Control certifies before occupancy that neither site conditions nor
the ongoing operation and maintenance activities pose a significant
risk to children or adults at the schoolsite.
   (e) If, at any time during construction at a schoolsite, a
previously unidentified release or threatened release of a hazardous
material or the presence of a naturally occurring hazardous material
is discovered, the school district shall cease all construction
activities at the sites notify the Department of Toxic Substances
Control, and take actions required by subdivision (a) that are
necessary to address the release or threatened release or the
presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials.
Construction may be resumed if the Department of Toxic Substances
Control determines that the construction will not interfere with any
response action necessary to address the hazardous material release
or threatened release or the presence of a naturally occurring
hazardous material, determines that the site conditions will not pose
a significant threat to the health and safety of workers involved in
the construction of the schoolsite, and certifies that the nature
and extent of the release, threatened release, or presence of a
naturally occurring hazardous material have been fully characterized.

   (f) Construction may proceed at any portions of the site that the
Department of Toxic Substances Control determines are not affected by
the release or threatened release of hazardous materials, or
presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials, provided
that all of the following apply:
   (1) Those portions of the site have been fully characterized.
   (2) The Department of Toxic Substances Control determines that the
construction will not interfere with any response action necessary
to address the release or threatened release of hazardous materials,
or presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials.
   (3) The site conditions will not pose a significant threat to the
health and safety of workers involved with construction.
   (g) The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall notify the
State Department of Education, the Division of the State Architect,
and the Office of Public School Construction when the Department of
Toxic Substances Control certifies that all necessary response
actions have been completed at a schoolsite.
   (h) The school district shall reimburse the Department of Toxic
Substances Control for all response costs incurred by the department.

   (i) The costs incurred by the school districts when complying with
this section are allowable costs for purposes of an applicant under
Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10) of Part 10 and may be
reimbursed in accordance with Section 17072.13.
  SEC. 4.  Section 17213.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   17213.3.  (a) The State Department of Education shall monitor the
performance of the Department of Toxic Substances Control in meeting
the timeframes applicable to the Department of Toxic Substances
Control specified in subdivision (a) of Section 17213.1 and shall
report its findings to the Department of General Services and the
Department of Finance on a quarterly basis.
   (b) The State Department of Education shall also report to the
Department of General Services and the Department of Finance every
six months for a period of two years, the amount of fees or other
charges of any state agency review paid by school districts pursuant
to this chapter, and any concerns about those fees or charges.
  SEC. 5.  Section 17268 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   17268.  (a) The governing board of a school district that elects
not to receive state funds pursuant to Chapter 12.5 (commencing with
Section 17070.10) may not approve a project for the construction of a
new school building, as defined in Section 17283, unless the project
and its lead agency comply with the same requirements specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 17213 for schoolsite acquisition.
   (b) As a condition to receiving state funds pursuant to Chapter
12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10, the governing board of a
school district may not approve a project for the construction of a
new school building or schoolsite on leased or acquired land unless
the project and the school district comply with the requirements
specified in Sections 17213.1 and 17213.2.
   (c) The project shall not be subject to subdivision (b) for a
minor addition to a school if the project is eligible for a
categorical or statutory exemption under guidelines issued pursuant
to Section 21083 of the Public Resources Code, as set forth in the
California Environmental Quality Act.
   (d) "School building," as used in this section, means any building
designed and constructed to be used for elementary or secondary
school purposes by a school district.
   (e) The requirements of Sections 17213, 17213.1 and 17213.2 shall
not apply to a schoolsite if the acquisition occurred prior to
January 1, 2000, to the extent a school district is subject to the
requirements set forth in those sections pursuant to a judicial order
or an order issued by, or an agreement with the Department of Toxic
Substances Control regarding that site, and the school district is in
full compliance with that order or agreement.
   (f) For purposes of this section, the acceptance of construction
bids shall constitute approval of the project.
  SEC. 6.  If a task force is created in Assembly Bill 1207 of the
1999-2000 Regular Session by the addition of Section 105515 to the
Health and Safety Code, that task force shall evaluate the
effectiveness of this act in ensuring that the health and learning
abilities of children attending California's schools are adequately
protected.  Among its recommendations to the Governor, the task force
shall include any changes and improvements to the provisions of this
act that would be necessary to protect the health and learning
abilities of children attending California's schools.
  SEC. 7.  Sections 1 to 6, inclusive, of this act shall not become
operative unless and until Senate Bill 162 of the 1999-2000 Regular
Session is chaptered and becomes operative.
